[Editor’s Note: At this week’s School Board meeting, reorganization (read: downsizing) of the Security Dept. controversially was listed by the School District administration as a cost-cutting priority.]
The purpose of having security on campus is to keep students and staff safe. I think we can all agree on that.
However, I cannot see how reducing the security team to three 8-hour per day employees and eight 3.5-hour per day employees can accomplish that.
The high school campus, for instance, is easily accessible through several entrances that are not sufficiently manned during the day.
The back parking lot area and the desk inside the high school front office entrance immediately come to mind, but there are others. While the desk inside the double doors of the office serves as a “sign-in” site, there is no one stationed there to monitor the comings and goings of visitors.
I have been able to walk into the campus on several occasions without being noticed. The rationale for the 3.5-hour security officers is that there are certain “peak” times during the school day when security coverage is more critical than others — at the beginning of the school day when students are arriving, during lunch and at the end of the school day.
The assumption is that there is so much “down time” during the rest of the school day, for which the District is paying guards unnecessarily, that the restructuring becomes a money saving opportunity that can't possibly be ignored.
The additional unfounded assumption is that during the rest of the school day, all of our students are quietly and safely tucked away in their classes learning.
I understand that during a recent WASC accreditation team visit, the team noted how many students were actually out of class during class time. That would mean to me that there is no “down time” in which full coverage is not needed.
One of our School Board members went as far as to mention the post-Columbine era in which we live. She was adamant in her support of keeping our students safe in view of this.
I fully agree.
Yet, with the easy access to our campuses that intruders can currently enjoy, coupled with the fact that shooters or other assailants aren't going to “time” their rampages (if, God forbid, we were ever to face such a crisis) during times of “full” security coverage, I fail to see the logic in the restructuring.
If anything, we should be hiring more security guards at 8 hours per day to protect our students and staff — not scaling back.
Ms. Hamme, President of the Assn. of Classified Employees, may be contacted at antiquer01@aol.com
